1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to handwritten character input devices which are adapted for inputting handwritten characters by handwriting input operation of the user, and relates to remote devices and electronic information terminals for use with handwritten character input devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many instances in which a user fills in a routine document format and creates a document, in various fields. The demand for generating electronic data from many documents created in this way in order to facilitate the document management is increasing. In the following, generating electronic data from such handwritten documents will be called electronization. Conventionally, in such instances, the user often uses a writing tool to write characters or the like on a recording sheet (sheet material) in which a routine document format is printed beforehand. In this case, in order to generate electronic data, an operator must perform complicated electronization work, such as performing a manual input operation with a keyboard while viewing the characters filling in the recording sheet, or optically reading the recording sheet with an image reader, which was inconvenient for the operator.
Conventionally, there has been a system in which an image (template image) of a document format is displayed on a display unit of a personal computer or a word processor, and a user is prompted to input characters into a character writing area of the template image using a keyboard. However, the system was inconvenient for a user unfamiliar with the keyboard operation. Moreover, it was necessary for the conventional system that the display unit for displaying the template image and the keyboard for inputting information by the user be separately arranged. A workspace which is large enough to arrange the display unit and the keyboard was needed. If the handwritten data were information important to identify the user, such as a signature, it was difficult to safely manage such information with the conventional system.
On the other hand, there has been also a handwritten character input device which generates a combined image of a template image and a handwritten character image if a user manually writes characters on a display screen (operation surface) on which the template image is displayed. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-22707 discloses an image writing system which includes a server, a writing device connected to the server to perform communications with the server, and a display medium detachably attached to the writing device. In this image writing system, the display medium is attached to the writing device so that a displaying area of the display medium is placed below a transparent touch panel provided in the writing device, and an image of an image file received from the server is written in the display medium by the writing device.
Thereby, the user can visually recognize the image displayed on the displaying area of the display medium through the transparent touch panel. If the user in this state performs a handwriting operation to draw a handwritten character on the touch panel using a stylus pen, the locus of the input positions generated by the handwriting operation is stored in the writing device. Then, the handwritten character image based on the stored information in the writing device is combined with the image currently displayed in the displaying area of the display medium, and the combined image is displayed.
Thus, if the handwritten character input device is able to input handwritten characters when the handwriting input operation is performed by the user and the input characters are displayed in the display screen on which the template image is displayed, it is no longer necessary for the user to perform the complicated electronic work. The convenience of the user may be increased with respect to the following point.
That is, the user can input the handwritten character information by performing only the manual operation which is the same as that in the case where characters are written on paper with a writing tool. The information inputting work will not be burdensome to the user, and the convenience for the user who is unfamiliar with the keyboard operation will be increased. Because the keyboard operation is unnecessary, the handwritten character input device can contribute to the reduction of the needed workspace. Moreover, it is possible to manage the information handwritten by the user directly, and it is possible to safely manage the important information, such as a signature.
However, it is expected that, when the user inputs the information to be input to the character writing area of the template image by the handwriting input operation, the handwritten characters may be input to the character writing area in an unsuitable manner. For example, when a sheet member, such as a recording sheet, in which a template image is printed, is overlaid on the display screen in which the same template image is displayed and the handwriting input operation is performed on the sheet member using a writing tool, the input of information of the handwritten characters and creation of the sheet member on which the handwritten characters are written can be performed at once. This is useful for a case in which a duplicate of the handwritten document must be passed to the user who has performed the handwriting input operation on the spot (such as an instance of receiving a signature of a user for the certificate of delivery by a parcel delivery service or mail).
However, if the sheet member is overlaid on the display screen in an unsuitable manner, the position of the input handwritten characters in the character writing area of the sheet member may project from the character writing area of the display screen. Or, the direction of the input handwritten characters in the character writing area of the sheet member may be inclined to that of the character writing area of the display screen. Moreover, the size of the input handwritten characters in the character writing area of the sheet member may be too small or too large relative to the size of the character writing area of the display screen. In this manner, the handwritten characters may be input to the character writing area in an unsuitable manner.
Furthermore, when prior calibration is not performed appropriately, the input position may not be detected appropriately even if the user performs the handwriting input operation appropriately in the character writing area, but it may be recognized as a wrong input position shifted from the actual input position. Also in such a case, the handwritten characters may be input to the character writing area in an unsuitable manner.
If the handwritten characters are input to the character writing area of the template image in an unsuitable manner, the following problems may arise.
There is a case in which the template image in which the handwritten characters input by the user by the handwriting input operation are entered in the template image is displayed on the display unit or printed out on a recording sheet. In such a case, the appearance of the screen displayed on the display unit or the printed document will be poor if the handwritten characters are input to the character writing area of the template image in an unsuitable manner.
There is also a case in which only the information input to a specific character writing area of the template image by the handwriting input operation is extracted and data processing of such information is performed. In such a case, the data processing cannot be performed appropriately if the handwritten characters are input to the character writing area of the template image in an unsuitable manner.